


Pining

by ohmymcgrath



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alex notices, And is determined to find out what's going on, F/F, Kara is in love, Of course she's being adorable about it, SuperCorp, Written from Alex's pov
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-05-30
Updated: 2017-05-30
Packaged: 2018-11-06 21:57:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,055
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11045136
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ohmymcgrath/pseuds/ohmymcgrath
Summary: Alex Danvers knows something is different about her sister. Suddenly, National City's Girl of Steel is eating kale salads and talking about physics. Alex isn't sure why, but she's determined to find out.





	Pining

**Author's Note:**

> I *may* write a small follow up if enough people are interested, so subscribe or leave a comment if you'd like to see a chapter two :) Happy reading!

Alex Danvers considered herself a pretty good detective. She was good at reading between the lines, picking up on clues, discerning the truth. That said, she was fairly certain that she would have to be blind to miss the fact that something was going on with her sister. She wasn't sure _what_ , exactly, but something was most definitely _up_.  

It all started two weeks ago, when Alex strode into the DEO after lunch, still stuffing the remainder of her pizza slice in her mouth. She'd been outside phoning Maggie, the subsequent sappy smile still on her face even around a large bite-full of cheese and pepperoni. 

When she got to the console room, her smile dimmed, brow pinching in confusion. She had expected to find Kara finishing the remnants of her own lunch - which usually consisted of half a dozen burgers and a pile of fries larger than her head. But as she approached her desk, she found her sister, the infamous Supergirl, picking at a salad. A _kale_  salad. 

Alex almost dropped her crust in shock. 

"Kara? Are you alright?" she asked immediately, remembering herself just in time to set the rest of her lunch on the paper plate on her desk before she dropped it and ended up with a lecture from J'onn about their ant problem. 

Kara didn't seem to hear her at first - a surprise in and of itself considering she had super hearing. But her attention seemed riveted on the pile of greens in front of her, her gaze almost studious as she compiled a bit onto her fork and ate it gingerly. When she reached for another, Alex shook herself out of her stupor and walked over to nudge her elbow. 

"Since when do you eat salad?" she asked, her tone somewhere between incredulous and teasing. 

Her sister finally looked up, her brows raised in surprise before her expression went all insistent in that way she had when she was trying to convince herself of something. 

"I like salad."

Alex snorted. "Kara, two days ago you declared over dinner with Eliza that kale was an 'abomination.'"

Kara blushed, her gaze dropping to her impromptu lunch before she straightened her shoulders stubbornly and shoved another bite in her mouth, looking up at her older sister as she _mmm_ d enthusiastically. 

Alex raised an eyebrow at her to let her know she wasn't convinced, but otherwise let the matter drop. People got into health crazes all the time, right? 

But as she watched Kara from the corner of her eye and saw that almost thoughtful look return the her face, the way the corner of her mouth lifted in a sort of wistful smile, she wondered if maybe there was something more going on. 

Especially since she ordered a kale salad every day for the next week. 

* * *

The next time something odd happened was at game night that weekend. Alex was leaning over the counter in Kara's kitchen, nibbling on popcorn as Maggie helped Kara scoop cookies onto a baking sheet because _Alex, we_ have _to have cookies._

Winn and James were arguing over battleship strategies in the living room and J'onn was scoffing at E.T. as it played in the background. 

Once the cookies were arranged and flattened, Kara brought out a handful of tins full of decorations. Sprinkles, m&ms, and the like. Alex tried to hold back her smile as Maggie went immediately for the red chocolates, smooshing them into the cookie batter with her fingers. 

"What?" Maggie asked playfully. 

Alex shook her head and stuffed another piece of popcorn in her mouth to keep from laughing. "Nothing."

"Red is my favorite color," her girlfriend said defensively, adding some red sugar dust as if to prove her point.

"I know. You pick out the red m&ms every time we buy a bag," Alex chuckled. 

"Well, you pick out the orange ones. Don't think I haven't noticed," Maggie teased, reaching over the counter to brush cookie dough on her girlfriend's nose.

"What's your favorite color, Kara?" Maggie asked. 

And Alex was about to snort and say 'blue' when she saw her sister duck her head and answer, very quietly, 'green.'

Alex froze in her seat. Because she had known Kara most of her life and her sister's favorite color had always been blue. Always. And as she narrowed her eyes at the girl across from her, watched her pull her bottom lip between her teeth and noticed that she was _blushing_ , she wondered what on Earth had happened to change her mind. 

Yes, something was definitely going on. And Alex was going to find out what. What was making Kara try kale, of all things, or suddenly change her favorite color, or blush as if she had some secret she was hiding, her eyes going all wistful as she popped a green m&m in her mouth and changed the subject. 

As the days pass, more evidence piles up. Evidence of what, Alex still isn't sure. It's not as if the clouds parted and an answer appeared in front of her like a giant neon sign. Mostly, it was tiny details that could very well mean nothing, but seemed to mean everything. The way Kara scrambled for her phone the moment her ringtone went off. The time she stole Kara's earbud to find her listening to some indie rock group instead of her regular pop songs. And what on Earth was quantum entanglement and why was Kara suddenly interested? 

All she knows is that she wants her sister to be happy and she sees something like... _longing_  in her eyes and it makes Alex want to throttle whatever - or whoever - is causing it. 

She watches her sister more closely, reminds her often that she can talk to her, no matter what. And when she does, Kara pauses, bites her lip, looks like she wants to say something. But every time, she just takes a deep breath and smiles and says 'I know' or 'I love you' and Alex sighs. 

Things seem to reach a crux when Kara invites Mon-el to movie night. The Danvers sisters' family tradition. And it dawns on Alex just why her sister might be acting strangely. 

So she watches the pair of them closely throughout the evening, watches as Mon-el flirts almost ostentatiously every chance he gets. 

But Kara doesn't seem to pay him any particular attention. She looks at him the same way she looks at Winn or, now, James. She's attentive, she smiles, but Alex can feel nothing more in the way she laughs at his jokes or how closely she sits next to him on the couch. And suddenly Alex is right back where she started. 

* * *

It's two weeks later when Alex jerks awake to the sound of her phone ringing, the ringtone jarring in the quiet of her apartment. She leaves the volume up in case there's an emergency, and as her brain catches up that this could _be_ an emergency, she fumbles for her phone in the dark. 

The caller ID makes her stomach clench painfully. 

"Kara? Are you okay?" she asks hastily into the receiver, instantly awake.

She can hear the static on the other line that tells her Kara is flying, and it gives her some relief even as she presses the phone to her ear intently. 

"Alex..." Kara whimpers, her voice cracking. "I can't find her. I know something is wrong. I should have known earlier but I didn't want to be overbearing and I know she's busy but she always calls me back and she hasn't and I can't hear her anywhere, Alex, and I can always hear her but Jess said she hasn't been at the office today and-" 

Alex holds up a hand even though Kara can't see. "Slow down, Kara. _Who_ can't you find?" 

" _Lena."_

Alex frowns. "Lena... Lena Luthor?" 

" _Yes_ , of course," Kara tells her and Alex didn't know Lena was 'of course' anything. 

"Well, maybe she's at home. Even workaholic CEO's need some time off-"

Kara cuts her off to say very matter-of-factly, "She's not at home."

Oh.

"And she's not at her office. I scanned the whole building. Alex, you don't understand, I can't _find_ her. I can always find her..." she trails off and Alex realizes she's holding her breath because the worry in Kara's voice is astonishing, not to mention the something... _else_  in her tone. "I know something is wrong."

She's still unsure, but she nods firmly, decided, and swings her legs out of bed. If Kara is worried, that's good enough for her. 

"Meet me at the DEO."

* * *

"Kara, I'm sure she's okay."

Alex says the words slowly, with as much confidence as possible, but in all honesty she's stunned by what's going on in front of her. 

At thirteen, Kara had rushed towards a burning car to save a woman trapped inside. Since she had come out as Supergirl, she'd faced aliens three times her size, been shot at, nearly died, but never had she seen her little sister look so... frightened. 

"But we don't know for sure," Kara threw back as she paced the length of the corridor, her cape billowing around her. "What if Lex's men got to her again? She could be hurt or _dead_  and I... I can't..." She slammed a fist against the wall and Alex winced as the metal gave way. She reached for her, sliding a hand over her sister's shoulder and squeezing gently. 

"Hey... We'll find her, Kara," she promised. 

Kara looked up at her with wide, wet eyes, her expression so vulnerable that it almost pained Alex to see it. 

But then she drew in a breath, set her jaw, and Alex watched as her blue eyes tried to harden with Supergirl's certainty.

"Right. You're right," she said, and though she didn't sound entirely convinced and Alex could hear the fear still wavering in her voice, she gave her sister a small nod of approval. 

"I've got something!" Winn suddenly shouted into her earpiece, making Alex flinch. Kara must have heard because she was gone faster than it took Alex to blink, no doubt already at Winn's side. 

"I triangulated the signal from Lena's tracker," Winn was explaining when she made it inside. 

"Wait, she has a tracker?" Kara asked, whirling on Alex. 

Alex had the decency to look sheepish. "In her phone." 

Kara narrowed her eyes. "We're going to talk about this later. Where is she?" 

Winn pointed at his computer screen. "Well, that's the problem. Whoever has her is interrupting the signal somehow. That's why it's taken us so long to find her. I have two locations but I don't know which one she's at."

"I'll take the farther one," Kara stated at once. "Alex-" 

"I've got it," Alex finished, already loading the second location into her GPS. 

She barely had to say the word before the van was loaded and the recovery team was on its way to the warehouse a few miles away. 

She was the first one inside, gun poised and ready as she took in the interior of the warehouse. Abandoned, of course, save for a dusty collection of crates and steel barrels. She lifted a fist to keep the rest of the team back as she perked her ears, listening intently for any signs of life. There was a muffled clicking noise somewhere in the distance, but she didn't hear any voices. 

"Alex, she's not here. She has to be at your location," Kara informed her through her headset. "I'm on my way."

She lowered her voice to whisper back, "Got it," when another voice interrupted her. 

"Fire!"

The command came from the opposite side of the room and Alex just managed to duck in time before a barrage of bullets landed in the crate just to the left of where she'd been standing. 

"Shit," she muttered under her breath, trying to get a visual of the assailants. 

When the gunfire stopped, she poked her head around the barrel she was crouched behind, spotting four large men in front of a makeshift workstation complete with computers and... Lena Luthor. She was typing furiously at one of them, her hair falling slightly in her face. She appeared unharmed. 

One of the men turned to her.

"Hurry up, Luthor."

Alex's finger hesitated on the trigger of her gun. 

"I'm trying," came Lena's crisp voice. She seemed more focused than afraid and Alex couldn't help it, but a flash of suspicion rippled down her spine. 

Could Lena be working with these men?

She didn't look like she was under duress, though, admittedly, Alex couldn't see much and, to be fair, Lena Luthor never looked like she was under duress. Not even when someone tried to blow up L-Corp during that gala she held a few weeks ago. 

But then what was she... 

"Five seconds," Lena said, her voice a touch too loud considering how close she was to the men around her, and that was when Alex happened to look up. Up, to where a bundle of explosives was attached to a small slot in the ceiling between them, the dim red light on the trigger suddenly turning yellow. 

Alex sent a quick signal to her team before she braced against the metal barrel, gun raised as she counted down _three, two, one_... 

The explosion rattled the building, but Alex kept her footing and the moment the immediate danger cleared was on her feet, her team right behind her as they closed in on the distracted assailants. 

Her eyes immediately sought out Lena amidst the rubble. It took her a moment, but she found her ducked behind one of the tables, dust coating her black hair and a small scratch above her left eye, but otherwise in one piece. 

"Miss Luthor, I'm glad you're-"

" _Lena._ "

Alex heard Kara's voice behind her, felt the rush of her cape as she half ran, half flew to the CEO. And then Alex winced as Kara practically crushed the other woman in her arms. Lena didn't seem to mind though. In fact, the woman's arms wrapped right around Kara's neck and Alex couldn't exactly be sure who was holding who more tightly. Even with Kara's super strength. 

" _Kara_. I knew you'd find me," Lena whispered into her sister's hair, and Alex couldn't even be worried about the fact that Lena appeared to know Kara's secret because just then, Kara stepped back and was looking at the woman before her with such adoration that she felt her breath catch in her throat. 

Because Kara didn't look at Mon-el like that. Kara didn't look at _anyone_  like that. 

And the pieces finally slid into place.

Her sister. Lena Luthor. Her sister _and_ Lena Luthor. 

"Oh, Rao, I was so worried," Kara fussed, her hands fluttering over the other woman as she checked for injuries, eventually cupping Lena's face and making a little sound of distress at the cut on her forehead. "We're getting you to the DEO. Right now."

"Kara," Lena chuckled, her hands fisting in Kara's cape, "it's just a scratch. I'm fine."

"But what if it gets infected?" Kara protested, turning to look at the men being handcuffed. "Which one of them did this to you? I'll-" 

Lena laughed. Actually laughed, something genuine and fond coming over her face as she grabbed Kara's shoulder. "I did it to myself."

At Kara's disbelieving look, she explained, "They kidnapped me hoping I would help them hack the DEO. They were after Lillian's location. This is one of Lex's buildings. Of course my brother had security measures installed. I hacked into those instead and set off a bomb." 

"You- _Lena_. You could have been _hurt_ ," Kara whined. 

Lena shrugged. "I trusted you to come. And Alex."

At that, Lena looked over Kara's shoulder and met Alex's eye. "Thank you, Agent Danvers."

Despite her shock at the night's revelations and her leftover confusion (as well as a bit of guilt for suspecting Lena of foul play, even if just for a moment), Alex smiled. "No problem. Glad you're safe."

And she was, she realized. Not that she had ever wished any harm on Lena Luthor. To be honest, she hadn't thought about her much one way or another. But Kara obviously had, and did, and her obvious... _care_  for the woman couldn't help but soften Alex to her, too. Because anyone who made Kara smile like _that_  was worth saving. 

"I still want Alex to look at you. You could have a concussion," Kara pointed out, looking at Alex with a pleading expression before turning the same look at Lena. It seemed the other woman wasn't any better at resisting Kara's puppy dog eyes than she was. 

"Alright," Lena agreed, and Alex watched as Kara beamed. And slipped her hand into Lena's, lacing their fingers together. 

The car ride to the DEO was... interesting. Kara continued fussing over the CEO the entire way there, asking if she felt dizzy or sore or if she was _sure_  she wasn't hurt. Alex couldn't help but chuckle because by the time they got to the medical bay she would hardly have anything left to her exam. But as she watched the two women before her, the way Kara had set herself almost protectively in front of the youngest Luthor and the way the usually stoic CEO looked at her sister with such obvious fondness, Alex started to wonder why Kara had never _said_  anything. 

As usual, she decided bluntness was the way to go. 

"So are you two dating?"

Kara and Lena both turned a remarkable shade of red, stumbling over their words as they looked uncertainly at each other.

"N-No, of course n-not," Kara stuttered, reaching up to adjust glasses that she wasn't wearing and scratching her temple instead. "Why would we... No, we're just..."

"We're just friends," Lena finished for her.

Alex snorted. Loudly. 

Because written as plain as day on both their faces was that longing Alex had been seeing on Kara for nearly a month. 

Well, at least she had finally figured it all out. Kara liked Lena. Lena liked Kara. And both were in denial. 

Alex sighed. She hadn't expected to have to play matchmaker. But it couldn't be that much harder than detective work. Right? 

**Author's Note:**

> Find me @ohmymcgrath on twitter :)


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